Common Caregiving Problems

• Mental health concerns  - Depression - Anxiety - Subclinical stress - High rates of negative affect including guilt, sadness, dread, worry. - Ambivalence about care - Witnessing the suffering of relatives - Becoming easily irritated or upset - Feeling isolated or abandoned by others - Anticipatory grief
  

• Physical health concerns - Fatigue - Sleep problems - Risk of illness, injury, mortality - Weakened immune system - Lower self-rated physical health compared to that of others of the same age and sex - Adverse changes in health status - Greater health services use and medication use - Dysregulation of stress hormones

• Functional and cognitive impairment - Greater need for help with IADL assistance (especially among dementia caregivers) - Difficulty with memory and concentration

• Secondary strains - Work – employment (e.g., reduction in work hours, family to work spillover, and work to family spillover) - Financial strains - Relationship stress - Loss of time for self-care (e.g., sleep, diet, exercise) - Reduced quality of life

• Care decisions  - “When is it time” for various services? - Residential placement - End of life care planning

• Resources and eligibility for services  - Housing - Healthcare - Community services - Respite

• Family challenges  - Conflict about care - Lack of support for caregiver - Balancing needs of healthy and sick family members - Behavioral issues - Interpersonal conflicts - Lack of cooperation by care recipient
  

• Advocacy for care - Interface with service systems - Coordinating systems

WEBSITE:

https://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/practice-settings/common-problems/